


Well. Why Not?

by NothingTame



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-07-12 03:42:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15986888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NothingTame/pseuds/NothingTame





	1. Chapter 1

Muggle-borns were generally considered to have strange hobbies. 

Abigail Robinson, for example, collected stamps. She spent an hour explaining to her House-mates exactly what a stamp was, and why it was both important  _and_ collectible. Most of her friends didn't get it, but it was accepted all the same. 

Erin Fortney enjoyed yoga. 

Miguel Lopez practiced a variety of martial arts with Erin, in fact, usually in the same space because, well,  _they just understood._

And Tabitha Miller enjoyed drawing people. 

In the beginning, it was just accepted as a weird Muggle-born thing, but eventually as her drawings were circulated about Hufflepuff she began to obtain a measure of notoriety. It wasn't intentional; drawing was just something she  _did._ That people actually liked it was rather like a bonus. A very awkward, slightly mortifying bonus, but if that was the price to pay for so many willing models, she'd pay it. 

She enjoyed drawing people. People were always interesting, and they said more in their faces and their bodies than they meant to, Tabi seeing more, or so she told herself, when she put them to paper and drew them out (get it? Puns!). While having people willing to sit for her was wonderful, her favorite (and exceedingly rare) way to capture people on paper was by candid perusal. 

And her favorite model didn't even know she existed. 

All in all, that was quite alright. She didn't think Ariel Dannon would deign to speak to a Hufflepuff, the tall, blonde Keeper for Slytherin beyond aloof. She was beyond everyone, with her lean, powerful figure and those serious green eyes in that hawk-like face. Her body had an androgynous grace to it, Tabitha had decided. The angles of her form were mimicked in her face, Ariel's gold locks long and wavy, usually braided back, her high cheekbones and long, saturnine features giving her an ethereal quality that was more terrifying than angelic. 

Tabitha loved drawing Ariel Dannon. That was her true hobby; finding new and interesting angles to continue drawing Ariel without the girl knowing. 

Where Ariel was tall, lean, strong, Tabi was short, plump, and ... well, strong in a different way. A typical Hufflepuff, Tabi found her calling in being the supportive friend, the nurturing shoulder, the swat-and-bellow that was needed when a fellow felt sorry for themselves. As unstoppable as a hurricane, she bustled in powered on good intentions and loyalty, dispensing wisdom, hugs, cookies, and a swat when called for. Her eyes were dark and her curls radiated about her head in a bushel of darkness, complimenting warm olive skin and a dash of freckles across her nose. She couldn't be more the opposite of Ariel if she'd set out to be so. 

She lamented that this was probably why the Slytherin would never, ever know she even existed. 

That was alright. Tabi rather figured her one-sided obsession with Ariel was unhealthy as it was, actually speaking to the girl would only lead to real heartbreak. It was much easier to sit in a tower above the courtyard the Keeper favored, her robes bunched around her thighs with her sketchbook in her lap, drawing in quick lines the sprawled figure of Ariel in the shade of a tree. She was a reader, that one, which made it all the easier for those candid sketches to have so much detail. Ariel would sit for hours, be it outdoors or in the Great Hall, sitting in an alcove in a hallway, or draped over a chair in the library (Tabitha's favorite). 

Ariel was so bloody tall; when she sat in a chair, it almost seemed to be too small for her. Her legs and arms would arrange themselves in a casual, unconscious grace, a strange angular dance that Tabi could not get enough of. It fascinated her how Ariel couldn't pose in a way that was uninteresting; the girl was never, ever boring to draw. Ever. 

Tabitha had a whole sketchbook devoted to the singular subject of Slytherin's Keeper. It was both her shame and her delight, and still she continued to steal every chance she had to draw her. 

They were in the same year, and now into their fifth Tabitha had quite the file. Her skills only got better as time grew on and somehow she was still never bored. On some level, it amused her. The rest of her was just content to keep at it. 

As a second year, she was almost caught. A teacher had seen her staring at Ariel during Quidditch practice and politely asked to see what she was doing. This was only the tenth time Tabitha had managed to do a full-body sketch of the Keeper, but seeing as it was the only one the teacher had witnessed, Tabi explained that she was keen on gaining more practice with an athletic figure. Personal hobby and all that. The teacher had cooed with interest, and asked to see Tabi's other drawings in the future. The Hufflepuff readily agreed. No one seemed to take note. 

The second time had been by Ariel herself, and that was easily solved by closing her sketchbook and leaving the library before the Slytherin could confront Tabi. Tabitha was more careful after that. 

The third time ... well. That was a disaster. 

* * *

 

Tabitha congratulated herself on the luck; Christmas holiday at Hogwarts was something she'd only experienced as a third year, and as a fifth year she expected it to be about as blissfully wonderful as it was then. Little did she know that her favorite art subject was also spending the winter holiday at Hogwarts as well!

In the library, she'd been reading up on Advanced Transfiguration when she heard someone moving through the rows of books. Her dark eyes caught the familiar figure of Ariel, the tall blonde returning several tomes to their rightful shelves, letting them float to their proper place as she passed. Tabitha was able to duck into an alcove and observe the Keeper select a few other books before returning to her favorite chair, a large over-stuffed, ancient piece of furniture that was the only thing big enough for her to comfortably sprawl in for hours. It was a favorite spot for several people, but winter break brought with it the assurance of availability. Tabitha was beside herself as she gleefully witnessed Ariel claim her seat. 

In her book bag was all she needed to set up, a gap in the books along her shelf giving her the perfect, unobtrusive view of her subject, and she knew she would have several hours to draw. Ariel was dressed in dark jeans and sneakers, a jumper of soft blue that complimented her eyes and skin tone. The angled features of her face were perfectly, dramatically lit by the windows behind her, her golden hair, pulled back in a severe bun. It didn't stop several silken wisps from flitting about her head, catching the winter's light like lines of spun silver. 

Towards the end of the drawing, Tabitha pulled out her colorful, tiny tray of inks, adding pigment to her drawing here and there; the blue of the sweater, the dark shadows of the jeans, the long shape of legs, the casual yet graceful tilt of broad shoulders. She was so enthralled that she forgot to pay attention; the next time she looked up, Ariel was gone, the chair empty.

"You've got a problem, you know."

The mellow tones of Ariel herself had Tabi's blood run cold, like she'd just been caught doing something sordid in public. The squeak that came out of her was hardly dignified, and to her own ears the girl couldn't have sounded more guilty. 

Her sketch of Ariel went flying, caught by pale tapered fingers before it hit the floor. Blue eyes bored into the Hufflepuff, fingering the paper without glancing at it once. To Tabitha, this was both a relief and somehow a source of despair as well. 

"I-I-I'm sorry?" stammered Tabi, hands blinding gathering up her things, her self-watering paintbrush, her tray of inks, her pens and pencils, stuffing them into her bookbag without looking. "I uh ... I didn't mean to- ... I mean, I was only bored, I was just-"

"...getting ink on all the pages?"

Tabi blinked. "What?"

Ariel was glaring at the podium Tabi had been reading at, the open-faced book on Transfiguration sitting right under where she'd been drawing this whole time. A few blotches of blue ink stained the corner of the tome, and Tabitha felt the blood train from her face to see it. "Oh... oh no-" She reached for her wand, searching her mind for a spell that would fix it, only to have a strong, long-fingered hand wrap around her wrist. Tabitha found herself staring, inches away from those blue eyes whose shade she was never close enough to witness.

 _There's more green in them than I suspected,_ she thought, her blink slow, almost sleepy as she stared into Ariel's eyes.  _Almost like the tide-pools in some warmer clime ... I kept making them closer to gray._ Her teeth worried into her bottom lip, leaning just a hair closer to examine the cerulean orbs.  _Right. I'll have to fix that then._

"What the  _hells_ do you think you're doing?"

Tabitha jerked back. "I was going to fix the-"

"That's not your job. You could ruin the book, not to mention the mountain of spells put in the very thing to keep it safe and clean." Ariel released the girl, her lips easing in their severe line of disapproval. "You Hufflepuffs. Always trying to-"

And then. Oh, and then, Ariel's eyes dropped to the drawing she held in her fingers. She finally saw it. She blinked and her brow began to furrow. "What in the world-"

Tabitha, mortified, made a grab for the drawing, guilt in every line of her, and Ariel, skilled Keeper that she was, yanked the drawing just out of reach even as her eyes stayed on the drawn visage of herself. She was too tall, too quick, and Tabitha did the only other thing she could do.

She yanked her bookbag over her shoulder and bolted out of the library. 

Half way down the corridor to her House common-room, she realized she'd also left her sketchbook on the podium she'd been reading at, just under the tome on Transfiguration. She knew Ariel was the meticulous sort, if she stopped being angry over Tabitha's drawing, she'd put away the tome and find the latest stack of sketches, varying subjects, yes, but the majority? The majority would reveal themselves to be of Ariel herself. 

Tabitha ducked into a small, dead end hallway not far from kitchens. It was right on the way to her intended destination, but with the tears of anxiety and humiliation threatening to  blind her, she needed a minute to compose herself. 

The first sob broke before she'd sat on one of the two stone-benches facing each other, tucked under high windows near a bust of some famous wizard. It was one of her favorite spots, she'd spent time here before, studying, reading, chatting with friends or listening to them vent. Today though, with the sun beginning it's tender decline behind the mountains, the sky going rosy, Tabitha dropped her bag and drew up her short legs and cried into her palms. 

A thousand thoughts ran through her head:

_-she will tell everyone about it..._

_...I'll never get to draw her again-_

_-no way she won't be furious...!_

_She'll tell a teacher and I'll get reprimanded-!_

_... she'll find it cute and silly and_ tell everyone about it...!

_She'll find me and tell me it's stupid._

_I won't be able to look at her again-_

And, finally:

_How will I ever be able to speak to her now?_

Tabitha knew this was a crush. She'd known for ages now, since the moment Ariel met her eyes once after a Quidditch match. Tabi had been high in the stands, rooting for the Slytherin Keeper as they faced off against Ravenclaw, cheering wildly the whole time. There had been a lull in the cheers, a brief moment when her voice had seemed to carry and her friends had laughed at her delighted hooting, and while Tabi had giggled and blushed, she'd glanced over to the Slytherin goals only to find her gaze returned. Ariel was looking right at her, smirking, one elegant brow lofted while the other drew in. It was a wicked expression, playful, knowing, and Tabitha felt her heart seize in her chest. Taken, stolen, broken free of her ribcage like it never was. Wholly Ariel's. There would be no one else. 

Third year at Hogwarts. Tabitha knew she was doomed. 

Perhaps that's why it hurt so much, to have her interest so naked on the page in Ariel's casual hold, to have the subject of her affections scan over the lines and frown with disgust. It had to have been disgust, there was nothing else there. And why wouldn't there be? Ariel didn't know Tabitha existed, no really, and it had to have been clear, naked on that page, her interest so plain. The rejection would come soon, or the mockery, the humiliation, or all three. She knew it, it was inevitable. 

Her face buried in her arms now, having sunk to the floor sometime in her weeping state, her arms pillowed on the stone bench she  _had_ been sitting on, Tabitha didn't know she wasn't alone until a throat was carefully cleared. 

"I have a headache," she blurted out without lifting her head. "I'll go to the common room in a minute, just leave me be."

"A headache?" came the dry, slightly-amused voice of Ariel. Tabitha gasped and looked up before she could stop herself. 

At this close, her wet face and crying eyes were visible. The Keeper was frowning again and stepping closer, dropping to the bench Tabi had been leaning against, her hand under the girl's chin before she could hide away. 

"What's this?" she said softly. Her tone was so quiet, her words ... concerned. Tabitha felt her heart wrench painfully, she dared not think-

"Why are you crying?" Ariel asked. Her tone turned hard a moment later, her voice edged and hard. "Did someone hurt you?"

"I, no, nothing like that-" Tabitha began, wiping at her face, flustered. "I was just ... I mean ..." The situation got stuck in her throat; she couldn't bring herself to say more, to make her fears reality. She started to gather her bag, readying herself to flee again. "I'm sorry, I just-"

"You're really quite good."

Tabitha whipped her head around to stare at Ariel. The tall blonde had the drawing in her lap, held atop a very familiar sketchbook. 

"I don't know where you found the time to draw me, most of these I didn't even know you were there," the Keeper continued, amused. "Suppose it should feel a little violating, to know you were staring at me so often." Those blue eyes lifted to meet Tabitha's. Tabitha found herself both terrified and intrigued, caught somewhere between a panic attack and mild arousal. "I'm supposed to feel that way. It's strange that all I feel is flattered."

Tabitha felt her cheeks burn; she was blushing! Ariel noticed this and that smirk, that first one years ago that stole Tabi's heart, flitted over her features. Ariel leaned closer, sketchbook and drawing offered to the other girl. 

"Flattered," Ariel continued quietly, her voice dropping a little. "...and intrigued."

The prickle in her cheeks ran up to Tabitha's temples and down her neck as she took both items, her fingers brushing the Keeper's before claiming the drawing to stuff it into the sketchbook, putting that in turn into her book bag. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, her mind blank; this was not how she expected this to turn out, shock robbing her of speech and thought. 

"And here I thought Tabitha Miller was the talkative sort," Ariel teased. 

Tabitha's head shot up to stare at Ariel, the girl's dark eyes going wide in understanding. "You know my name! How do you know my name?" she gasped. 

" _Well_ ," Ariel began, crossing her long legs and leaning back against the windowsill, watching Tabitha and still smirking. "You probably don't remember this, but a few years back I was playing a match against Ravenclaw. I don't know what it was, but I found myself looking in the stands after a particular trying series of saves only to see a  _Hufflepuff_ of all creatures waving her hands and cheering. It was quiet, your voice caught my attention. When you saw me looking at you, you looked right back, blushed and beamed at me with this look of utter delight." An errant lock of gold was brushed back as Ariel crossed her arms over her chest, looking down at Tabitha. "After the game, I asked someone I'd seen sitting next to you who you were. I tried to find you after that but we never seemed to cross paths. Now," she added, "I'm starting to think we had chances to meet aplenty, you either exploited those moments to doodle me or avoided me altogether."

"I don't  _doodle_ people," Tabitha huffed indignantly. "I draw them. I like to draw them. It isn't just you." She was getting defensive and she knew it; she couldn't help it. "You're ... I mean. I didn't know you were..." Her fingers twined and untwined, fiddled as she struggled to find her words. Eventually she started to tugged at a frayed hem of her robe, the girl chewing at her bottom lip as she fussed. "...I just like your shape," she finally mumbled, feeling lame and chubby and unworthy and graceless and  _lumpy_.

At first, Tabi thought maybe Ariel hadn't heard her. She spared an upward glance only to find herself the object of a very serious, very  _intense_ regard, offering to drop her eyes and remain as she was. Penance, she figured, knowing she was due much. Penance for being so weird, violating someone's personal boundaries, and ... and ...

 _Wait. Did Ariel Dannon just explain that she was_ interested _in me, the same moment I knew she was ....?_ The thought sped through her brain, burning through, and Tabitha felt hope swell in her chest. 

She raised her gaze a second time, meeting Ariel's and arresting it. The golden-haired Slytherin squared her shoulders and drew herself straight, her legs uncrossing as she returned Tabi's regard. Long moments passed and slowly, so slowly, Ariel began to smile. As she did so, Tabitha blushed in response. 

"I ... I have more," the Hufflepuff finally said, her voice quiet, striving to be brave. "In my room. I can ... I can get them, and show you ....?"

Ariel's smile grew, her head tilting in approval. "How about over dinner? It's meant to start in just a bit."

Tabitha's felt her mouth curve, her grin unabashed and full of joy. "Yeah? Okay. I'll ... I'll be right over."

As she moved to stand, hooking her strap over her shoulder, Ariel stood too, her hands settling on the shorter girl's shoulders, her palms heavy and warm. Tabitha felt the blush return in force, her mouth going a little dry. This was the first time they'd touched, and to Tabitha it felt important, significant. 

 _Control your breathing don't squirm don't bounce don't squeal-_ was her rapid fire thoughts.

"I like you, Tabitha Miller," Ariel said quietly. Her strong fingers squeezed Tabitha's shoulders, a warm, lingering gesture. Her grip dropped down to Tabitha's upper arms, squeezed again, before dropping away. She stepped aside to let the other girl pass her, her blue eyes inviting and interested. Tabitha felt heavy with desire, unable to tear her eyes away as she drew herself from the dead end hallway to race towards the Hufflepuff common room. 

 _She likes me!_ she thought, her heart singing.  _She likes me she likes me she likes me...!_

At the giant painting that was the entrance to her destination, she felt the blood drain from her face as her hand hovered over the pear she'd meant to tickle. 

_Oh... oh no. Oh no! I didn't tell her I liked her back!_

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Ariel liked keeping people at arm's length. It was something she was good at, drawing people in but keeping them at just the right distance, just enough to give herself breathing room and space to grow. It was something her whole family was good at, accepted, and likely why most of them were Slytherin. 

It wasn't like the old days; the House, while still heavily competed against along with the other Wizarding Houses of Hogwarts, there was no longer that lingering suspicion of dishonesty and malicious malcontent. Too much had happened, too many had sacrificed for the well-being of their whole world. There were no boundaries or unhealthy rivalries, not like there were. 

Acceptance was the only way through this. Helga Hufflepuff's teachings rippled through the ages in their time of turmoil, and it was House Hufflepuff that began the redeeming acceptance of every Slytherin they could find. And somehow? It just worked. 

No Slytherin would admit they wanted that kind of acceptance, or that kind of enveloping trust, but after the Battle of Hogwarts they rather needed it. It became an unspoken, unofficially coveted point of reference; the healing began  _there_ , when Hufflepuff insisted they trust, and accept. Ravenclaw saw the wisdom in this. Gryffindor saw something worth fighting for; unity, peace. Acceptance. 

The years had passed; it'd been several graduating classes since the last of the first years from that time had finally gone from the school. No one forgot, of course, the very walls spoke their history. It was impossible to forget. It was before Ariel and Tabitha's time, and even then? Everyone remembered. 

The ongoing joke these days was that a Hufflepuff often 'adopted' a Slytherin, or vice versa, when one or the other was out of sorts with the school in those first Sorted days. A second year or above would pull one under their wing, keep the Slytherin fed and comfortable, or the Hufflepuff protected and safe. Some of the teachers found it funny. Many more found it reassuring. 

But that was rather why Ariel and Tabitha knew so little about each other, from each other; by all appearances they were the epitome of their Houses. Ariel was severe to most, ambitious, focused as a razor's edge over what she wanted, where she meant herself to go. Tabitha was loyal, loving to a fault, and so honest despite the crippling awkwardness that bled from her around Ariel.

The Slytherin keeper sat in the Great Hall, her chin on her hand, staring out at the snow falling beyond the window, ignoring the little flakes that fell from the ceiling in magical mimic. Her lips curved as she thought of Tabitha, feeling heat rush to her cheeks and creep down her neck; her feelings about the other student were unexpected.

Tabitha hadn't gone unnoticed by Ariel. She'd seen her here and there, caught her at the corner of her perception time and again; she'd thought for a long time that it was her imagination, it had to be! And now she knew it was not. 

She was soft, and smiled so brightly, and distance was not something the girl put in her friendships, that much was clear. Ariel fought down a surge of possession as she recalled the many times she'd seen Tabitha pull someone close in the hallway, hug them in greeting with a big grin and a laugh before going about her business. And so many! At times, Ariel had thought poorly of such habits;  _she'll exhaust herself!_ she'd thought with disdain.  _Nothing left over ... for herself! Or her important friendships! How can she do that? She can't. No one can keep that going forever!_

And yet here she was, five years in, still the same ridiculous, caring, hugging creature. 

Distance was safer, Ariel knew. Distance was healthy, it gave her space to breathe. She could grow as big as she wanted with space, as high as she wanted. She could join the Harpies, she could work for the highest levels of the Ministry; she could be Auror someday! 

And yet. 

There was a dream. An image in her mind, of sharing that space with Tabitha. Sharing her breath, letting her grow with her, climb her branches, share their secrets- 

"Hello again...!"

Ariel jerked herself from her daydream and stared at Tabitha, peeling herself from the bench to stand and square her shoulders, wrapping her dignity about her like a cloak. She cleared her throat. "Hello. Won't you join me?"

Tabitha made a face; Ariel tensed. "I don't know how you do that," the girl said with a laugh, taking a seat as Ariel invited her, her arms burdened with several sketchbooks and a slim folio. 

"Do what?" Ariel asked, reclaiming her spot, hands folding around her steaming mug of cider. That and the items brought by Tabi were all that graced the banquet table for the moment; dinner wasn't quite on yet, there were a few other students straggling in for the meal. 

"Be so graceful  _all_ the time," lamented Tabi with a grin. "How do you manage that?"

Another trait inherent to her family. Ariel's eyes dropped to her mug, blowing at the steam, feeling her cheeks prickle with heat again. She tried to find her words. It was hard. 

"I'm sorry," Tabi said, her voice soft, one hand reaching out to brush Ariel's knuckles, only to yank her hand back like Ariel's skin was on fire. "I ... didn't mean to embarrass you." Regret. Sincerity. Ariel looked up to frown. "What?" blinked Tabi. 

"I don't know how you do  _that_ ," Ariel shot right back at Tabitha, wrinkling her nose. 

"Do what?" 

"Be so open and inviting,  _all_ the time."

Tabitha blinked again, and then began to  blush, her chuckle hid in the sleeve of her robe. 

 

* * *

 

 

Ariel waited until dinner was eaten and their dishes cleared away before asking to see Tabitha's ("-'Tabi', please...!") other drawings. She'd been careful to look through them with fingers that were clean, reverently pulling out those that she liked as she peered at the pages. Tabitha fussed on the other side, rambling out reasons for design choices and subjects, explaining this angle or that particular point of contrast. For the most part, Ariel let the words run through her without clinging to any of them, focusing on what she saw. 

Ariel sprawled under a tree reading a book. 

Ariel sitting on the bridge staring out at the grounds.

Ariel standing in a hall with her satchel over one shoulder.

Ariel leaning against wall while she sat at the pub in Hogsmeade. 

Then there were the hurried sketches, caught quickly like Ariel was moving or got up quickly. 

A good three quarters of the drawings were of the Keeper. 

It was some time before Ariel realized Tabitha had gone quiet. She blinked and looked up to see Tabitha staring at her in earnest, her expression worried. Several times she opened her mouth to say something but each time she closed her mouth, Ariel smirking a little in response. She decided to let the other girl stew, going back to the drawings she'd spread out on the table, all of Ariel. She set aside the leather folder and drew her hands up to rest her chin on them, her elbows on the table, looking over the many different version of herself. 

Tabitha couldn't take that for very long.

"I know it's odd," she burst out with, trying to keep her voice reined in, clearly, with how tightly clipped her words were, her tone strained. "I never sought you out. I mean, if I spotted you, I would- ... I didn't follow you or anything. I would see you and if I thought I had time I would draw, and sometimes I'd get a really detailed sketch, other times..." Her voice trailed out. The Hufflepuff started to fiddle with the spoon still on her side of the table, staring at it. "There's other drawings of other people, I did the same with them. I mean." She lets out a breath. "...yeah. I just... you're just so ... I couldn't resist, you just... I mean."

Ariel took pity, clearing her throat and tapping the table space between them, encouraging Tabitha to look up. Dark eyes darted upward, apprehensive, startled. The Slytherin considered torturing her longer just to see her do that again, to lift those thick lashes and gaze at her with so much  _focus_ and  _desperation_ in her face; it did something to Ariel. 

She cleared her throat a second time, fighting the rush of heat that threatened to skim her cheeks. "I told you, I'm not bothered. I've no reason to mislead you on that, right?"

Tabitha nodded, visibly swallowing. 

Ariel pressed on. "And ..." She couldn't help it; her cheeks tingled. "...I kind of like it."

Silence. 

The blonde cleared her throat again. "So. You can do this whenever you want to. And if you'd like, I'll ... I suppose the term is 'model'? Yeah. Yeah, I'll model for you. Anytime." Her lids flickered, looking back up to Tabitha. "Alright?"

An explosive exhalation left Tabitha, like she'd been holding her breath; she probably had been. "You ... you would?"

Ariel felt herself smiling as she nodded. "Yeah. You only have to ask."

The smile Tabitha gave her took her breath away, and Ariel knew in her bones this was the best decision she'd ever made. 

 

 


End file.
